President Putin has said Russia’s war goals remain unchanged and there won’t be peace in Ukraine until they are achieved.
He has been taking questions during a four-hour phone-in.
The Q&A had been a regular fixture on Russian television, but didn’t happen during the first year after the invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine war latest: Putin brands invasion ‘a civil war’ as he doubles down on aims
Mr Putin reiterated his goals were still the “de-Nazification, de-militarisation and a neutral status” of Ukraine.
“Peace will come when we reach our goals,” he told TV viewers and a Moscow studio audience.
Russia wants to keep Ukraine from joining NATO – something which would mean Western countries have to directly help defend it.
Journalists in the studio also put questions to the president
The Russian leader said 617,000 troops, including 244,000 reservists, were in Ukraine and claimed the number signing up “is not diminishing”.
He claimed another call-up of amateur reservists – a move that saw some flee Russia last year – wasn’t necessary as 1,500 men are joining every day.
Mr Putin also said Ukraine’s stalled counteroffensive – which this summer aimed to win back territory and cut off Russian supply lines – had “failed everywhere”.
Ukrainian officials have conceded that progress has been disappointing, with only minor gains in the south near Kherson.
A Russian solider – said to be phoning in from Ukraine – also asked a question
President Putin’s determination to continue –